New-wave reactors are the face of an American nuclear renaissance. Some experts are sounding alarms | CNN
▻https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/22/climate/small-nuclear-reactors-smrs-holtec-kairos
On the sandy shores of Lake Michigan, set against a backdrop of thick forest, a sharp-angled grey concrete building could be the face of an #American #nuclear renaissance.
The Palisades nuclear #plant, about a two-hour drive from Chicago, was decommissioned in 2022, judged to be #uneconomical in a world of #cheap American #gas. But Florida-headquartered company Holtec is reviving it. It will mark not only the first ever #restart of a shuttered #US nuclear plant, but, if all goes to plan, Palisades will also be the birthplace of a nuclear #breakthrough: America’s first commercial “#small_modular_reactors.”
These advanced nuclear #reactors, known as #SMRs, are like mini nuclear power plants but touted as #cheaper, #safer, #faster to #build and #easier to #finance than their conventional counterparts — and #hype around them is rising fast.
